THE 


V 


^ 


JUL  '  $  1932 


& 


ftc»c*j  rr* 


s^ 


W&vi&ti&w  fflp&miwt $< 


Vol.  IV.]       May  and  June,  1827.        [No.  III. 


IU     J.i.LllV^lli3       UU1, 


adise.' — p.  8. 

On  the  whole,  South  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
writers  of  his  own  or  of  any  age.  It  is  well  said  of  him  by 
Richard  Cecil,  that  '  he  tells  truth  with  the  tongue  of  a  viper, 
for  he  was  most  bitterly  set  against  the  Puritans.  But  there  is 
a  spirit  and  life  about  him.  He  must  and  will  be  heard.  And, 
now  and  then,  he  darts  upon  us  with  an  unexpected  and 
incomparable  stroke.'  He  who  reads  his  sermons  without 
a  constant  reference  to  the  character  of  the  times  and  of  the 
man,  will  of  course  fail  to  perceive  much  of  their  value.  If 
he  has  not  the  splendid  imagination  or  overflowing  fulness  of 
Taylor,  his  course  is  more  equable  and  better  sustained.  If  he 
has  not  the  condensation,  of  thought  and  logical  cast  of  mind, 
which  distinguish  Barrow,  he  has  more  vivacity,  directness,  and 
animation.  We  think  the  editor  of  the  volume  before  us  has 
rendered  a  very  useful  and  acceptable  service  to  the  theological 
public,  and  to  the  reading  public  in  general.  He  has  performed 
the  task  of  selection  with  good  taste  and  judgment.  It  seems 
to  have  been  his  aim  to  make  the  volume,  as  it  ought  to  be,  a 
fair  representation  of  the  peculiarities  of  South,  both  of  his 
excellencies  and  his  faults;  and  we  think  he  has  succeeded. 
The  biographical  notice  is  drawn  up  in  an  interesting  and  able 
manner,  evidently  after  much  and  careful  investigation.  We 
think,  however,  that  a  little  more  severe  castigation  should  have 
been  bestowed  upon  the  ill  nature  and  bad  passions  of  a  man, 
who  renounced  entirely  that  part  of  politeness,  which  consists  in 
tolerating  the  opinions" of  others.  The  editor's  notes  are  spar- 
ingly, perhaps  too  sparingly,  inserted  ;  but  where  Yhey  do 
occur  are  well  timed  and  judicious.  We  hope  that  valuable 
republications,   like   this   volume    and   the   recent  edition   of 

VOL.    IV. NO.  III.  31 


242  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

Milton's  Prose  Works,  will  be  received  with  such  favor  as  to 
give  encouragement  to  other  similar  selections.  The  mines  of 
the  old  writers  should  be  diligently  explored,  and  the  treasures 
they  contain  should  be  brought  forth,  as  much  as  possible,  into 
common  use. 


Art.  VIII.— 1.  A  'Bunker  Hill1  Contest,  A.  D.  1826, 
between  the  '  Holy  Alliance '  for  the  Establishment  of 
Heirarchy,  and  ecclesiastical  Domination  over  the  human 
Mind,  on  the  one  Side  ;  and  the  Asserters  of  free  Inquiry, 
Bible  Religion,  christian  Freedom,  and  civil  Liberty  on 
the  other.  The  Rev.  Charles  Finney, '  Home  Missionary,1 
and  High  Priest  of  the  Expeditions  of  the  Alliance  in  the 
Interior  of  JVe  iv  York;  Head  Quarters,  County  of  Oneida. 
By  Ephraim  Perkins,  a  Layman  of  Trenton.  Utica, 
1826.   12mo.  pp.  104. 

2.  A  Narrative  of  the  Revival  of  Religion,  in  the  County 
of  Oneida,  particularly  in  the  Bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Oneida,   in  the    Year    1826.     Utica.  Hastings  &  Tracy, 

1826.  Svo.  pp.  88. 

3.  A  Calm  Review,  of  the  Spirit,  Means,  and  Incidents 
of  the  late  '  Oneida  Revival,1  as  exhibited  in  various 
Presbyterian    Societies.      Utica.    Dauby   and    Maynard. 

1827.  12mo.  pp.    4. 

4.  Letter  to  the  Presbytery  of  Oneida  County,  New  York, 
and  their  '  Committee,  the  Rev.  John  Frost,  Rev.  Moses 
Gillet,  and  Rev.  Noah  Coe,1  '  appointed  to  receive  Com- 
munications from  Ministers  and  others  respecting  the  late 
Revival,  in  this  County.1  By  Ephraim  Perkins,  '  a 
Plain  Farmer '  of  Trenton.  Utica.  Dauby  &,  Maynard, 
1827.   12mo.  pp.  24. 

5.  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Di- 
visions in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of 
Troy  ;  containing,  also,  Strictures  upon  the  new  Doctrines 
broached  by  the  Rev.  C.  G.  Finney  and  N.  S.  S.Beman, 
with  a  Summary  Relation  of  the  Trial  of  the  Latter  before 
the  Troy  Presbytery.  By  a  Number  of  the  late  Church 
and  Congregation.  Trov,  N.  Y.  Tuttle  &  Richards, 
1S27.  Svo.  pp.  4S. 

We  feel  compelled  at  last,  though  it  is  with  extreme  reluc- 
tance, to  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the  extravagances 


^  L  JUL   '  )  1932 ' 

The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revival^/*,  243         o 

committed  of  late,  in  various  parts  of  our  country,  uircrer-ttie-^"^ 
abused  name  of  Revivals  of  Religion.  These  disclosures,  it 
is  true,  verify  the  predictions  we  have  frequently  made,  and 
strengthen  and  confirm  every  position  we  have  taken  on  this 
subject,  by  incontestible  facts;  and  for  this  reason  it  might  be 
thought,  that  we  should  be  eager  to  lay  them  before  the  public. 
But  when  we  consider  the  use  that  is  likely  to  be  made  of 
them  by  unbelievers  and  scoffers,  and  their  tendency  to  create 
even  in  well  disposed  minds  a  distrust  of  religion  itself,  it  be- 
comes a  melancholy  office  from  which  we  could  gladly  refrain, 
were  we  not  convinced,  that  any  longer  silence  would  be  trea- 
son. The  pamphlets  before  us  show  that  these  excitements 
are  no  longer  to  be  regarded  merely  as  ebullitions  of  overheated 
zeal  in  a  few  misguided  individuals,  whose  excesses  the  great 
body  of  the  Christians  with  whom  they  act,  would  take  care 
to  frown  upon  and  repress.  The  Narrative  published  by  the 
Oneida  Presbytery,  says  of  Finney,  the  principal  instigator  of 
these  disturbances,  that  they  '  think  it  due  to  him  and  to  the 
cause  of  Christ,  which  they  believe  he  loves,  to  state,  that  his 
christian  character,  since  he  made  profession  of  religion,t  has 
been  irreproachable  ;'  and  that, '  on  the  whole,  he  is  as  well  cal- 
culated to  be  extensively  useful  in  promoting  revivals  of  reli- 
gion, as  any  man  of  whom  they  have  any  knowledge.'*  The 
Troy  Presbytery  also,  before  whom  Beman,  another  of  these 
incendiaries,  was  brought  for  trial,  not  only  acquitted  him 
of  all  blame,  but,  as  if  to  add  insult  to  injustice,  '  transgressed 
their  authority  by  passing  a  vote  of  censure  upon  those  mem- 
bers of  the  church  who  had  signed  the  petition  for  the  trial, 
and  outraged  common  sense  by  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Beman 
himself  for  his  ministerial  zeal  and  fidelity.^  Though, 
therefore,  many  individuals  of  the  party  think  precisely  as 
we  do  of  the  revolting  scenes  in  question,  and  are  not  respon- 
sible for  the  violent  measures  that  have  led  to  them,  still  it 
would  seem  that  the  character  of  the  party  itself  is  deeply 
implicated,  as  they  have  by  their  public  acts,  and  in  a  most 
solemn  manner,  approved  and  sanctioned  what  has  been  done. 
It  would  seem,  that  the  measures  adopted  by  Finney  and 
Beman  are  but  part  of  a  system  deliberately  formed,  which 
a  powerful  party  are  determined  to  introduce  into  every  city 
and  village,  as  they  may  have  opportunity  ;  until  they  shall 
have  the  satisfaction  of  beholding  the  fires  of  religious  frenzy 

*  p.  44        f  Brief  Account,  p,  47. 


244  The  O inula  and  Troy  Revivals. 

which  have  flashed  up  in  particular  places,  spread  through  the 
land,  to  use  their  own  expression,  '  as  fires  spread  and  roar 
through  the  parched  forests/ 

It  should  be  observed,  that  in  the  statements  about  to  be 
made,  we  are  not  under  the  necessity  of  depending  on  ex  parte 
testimony,  always  to  be  suspected,  and  never  more  so  than  in 
religious  misunderstandings.  The  Narrative  is  from  the  friends 
of  the  revival,  and  in  a  long  Appendix  they  undertake  an 
examination  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Contest,  and  we  may  presume 
the  last  mentioned  pamphlet  contains  no  error,  misrepresenta- 
tions, or  false  coloring,  which  they  have  not  detected  and 
exposed.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  they  have  not  so 
much  as  attempted  to  disprove  a  single  material  allegation  in 
regard  to  the  disturbances  in  question.  Mr  Wetmore,  the 
minister  of  Trenton,  says,  indeed,  in  his  letter  to  the  committee 
on  this  subject,  ;  Now  what  I  have  to  state  is,  that  Mr 
Perkins  has  given  in  general  a  false  statement  of  the  proceed- 
ings in  the  revival,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  and  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  manner  and  means  made  use  of  in  promoting  the 
revival  in  my  congregation.  I  am  ready  to  say,  and  to  prove 
if  it  were  necessary,  that  the  statements  which  he  has  made 
are  a  gross  perversion  of  the  truth/-  To  prove  this,  if  it 
were  necessary  : — It  was  the  only  thing  necessary  ;  and, 
supposing  him  to  be  an  honest  man,  his  only  object  in  writing  ; 
and  as  he  has  not  done  this  in  a  single  instance,  nor  attempted 
it  in  regard  to  any  of  the  material  and  express  charges  brought 
against  himself  and  his  coadjutors,  nor  even  ventured  so  much 
as  to  deny  them,  except  in  a  general  wav  as  above,  the  con- 
clusion is  irresistible,  that  he  could  not  do  it  ;  that  the  facts 
were  notorious.  The  Appendix,  however,  has  called  out  Mr 
Perkins  again  in  his  Letter  to  the  Presbytery,  in  which  by  a  se- 
ries of  affidavits  he  has  abundantly  established  every  important 
position  taken  by  him  previously,  leaving  us  nothing  to  i\  i 
on  his  part,  but  a  disposition  in  both  his  pamphlets  to  encum- 
ber the  narrative  with  much  irrelevant  matter,  and  a  want,  in 
some  instances,  of  seriousness  and  dignity,  and  particularly  in 
his  titlepages. 

With  respect  to  the  difficulties  at  Troy,  it  is  true  the  Brief 
Account  is  from  the  aggrieved  party  :  but  it  contains  a  summary 
report  ofBeman's  trial,  giving  us  a  lull  view  of  the  grounds  taken 
by  that  gentleman  and  his  friend.-  in  his  defence.    The   Calm 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  245 

Review  has  not  made  us  acquainted  with  many  new  facts,  but 
is  nevertheless  of  great  value,  as  it  confirms  the  statements 
derived  from  other  sources,  and  presents  us  with  the  reflections 
of  a  person  residing  on  the  spot,  who  has  evidently  contem- 
plated the  commotions  about  him  with  the  eye  of  a  Christian  and 
a  philosopher.  Seldom  has  a  case  occurred  of  violent  religious 
dissensions  and  excesses,  respecting  which  our  materials  for 
making  up  a  just  opinion  are  more  ample  and  satisfactory. 

It  appears  that  towards  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1825, 
many  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  in  the  interior  of  New  York, 
and  particularly  in  Oneida  County,  began  to  be  uneasy  about 
the  state  of  religion  in  their  congregations,  and  still  more  so  at 
the  progress  which  other  sects  were  making  amongst  them. 
To  arouse  the  slumberers,  and  still  more,  it  would  seem,  to 
reestablish  themselves  in  that  ascendancy  which  they  were  in 
danger  of  losing,  they  appear  very  generally  to  have  come  into 
a  plan  for  getting  up,  as  the  phrase  is,  an  awakening,  or  revival ; 
a  common  resort  of  the  Orthodox,  when  they  find  themselves 
in  difficulty.  For  this  purpose  they  lost  no  time  in  availing 
themselves  of  the  means  and  instruments,  which  experience  has 
shown  to  be  most  efficacious  in  such  cases  ;  and  three  or  four 
1  home  missionaries,'  as  they  are  called,  and  several  young  men 
from  the  theological  seminary  at  Auburn,  came  to  their  aid, 
and  rendered  essential  services.  These  measures  began  to 
take  effect  in  the  course  of  the  autumn ;  but  the  contagion  spread 
slowly,  and  does  not  appear  to  have  reached  its  height  till  the 
following  spring  and  summer.  Speaking  of  the  accounts  com- 
municated to  the  committee  of  the  Oneida  Presbytery,  respect- 
ing the  rise  and  progress  of  the  revival  in  different  places,  the 
writer  of  the  Calm  Review  observes  : 

'  In  many  of  them  there  appears  to  be  a  studied  effort  to  create 
a  belief,  that  some  time,  before  any  open  indications  of  religious 
excitement  appeared  in  their  several  societies,  and  before  any 
special  means  were  taken  to  promote  it,  a  silent  but  obvious 
movement  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  was  apparent  and  is  now 
well  recollected.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  impute  to  these  gentlemen 
a  design  to  impose  knowingly  upon  the  public  mind,  an  untrue 
statement  of  the  case  ;  but  it  is  not  uncommon  for  those  who  would 
wish  to  remember  a  favorite  matter,  unwittingly  to  themselves  to 
substitute  an  after  thought  for  a  recollection.  Certain  however 
it  is,  that  in  no  instance,  so  far  as  we  have  information,  was  "  the 
work"  a  subject  of  public  knowledge  or  general  observation, 
before  the  appearance  and  operation  of  the  principal  agent  or 


240  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

agents,    who  have  all  along  attended  it  and  given  to  it  life   and 
activity.' — Calm  Review,  pp.9 — 11. 

The  origin  of  the  revival  in  Troy  was  less  respectable. 
About  four  years  ago  the  Rev.  Nathan  S.  S.  Beman,  then 
residing  in  the  state  of  Georgia,  was  called  to  the  charge  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  city.  While  measures  were 
in  progress  for  his  settlement,  rumors  began  to  be  circulated  in 
the  neighbourhood  respecting  differences  between  himself  and 
his  wife  of  a  scandalous  nature,  and  a  committee  was  raised  to 
inquire  into  the  truth  of  these  reports. 

'  They  applied  to  Mr  Beman  himself  for  information,  who 
assured  them  that  there  never  had  been  any  variance  between 
them,  except  upon  one  occasion,  when  he  found  it  necessary  to 
interfere  and  disapprove  of  the  excessive  correction,  which  she 
was  administering  to  a  female  servant.  He  further  informed 
them,  that  she  was  a  woman  whom  it  would  afford  him  pleasure 
to  introduce  to  the  ladies  of  Troy,  and  he  did  not  doubt  the  plea- 
sure would  be  reciprocal  upon  their  acquaintance  with  her  ;  that 
she  was  a  professor  of  religion,  and  a  pious  woman,  and  would 
be  an  ornament  to  the  society.  It  has  since  been  found  that  very 
violent  and  angry  dissensions  existed  between  them,  long  before 
their  departure  from  Georgia.  The  church  had  inflicted  the  sen- 
tence of  suspension  upon  her,  and  it  was  still  hanging  over  her 
when  she  came  here,  and  she  has  never  communed  [communica- 
ted] with  the  church  in  this  place.  The  cause  of  her  suspension 
will  place  in  still  stronger  light  the  duplicity  of  Mr  Beman.  About 
five  months  after  their  marriage,  there  was  some  difficulty  between 
them,  when  Mr  Beman  locked  her  in  a  room,  and  kept  her  confined 
from  morning  until  afternoon,  at  which  time  she  was  released  by 
a  servant.  She  then  went  to  another  room,  and  threw  herself 
upon  a  bed.  Mr  Beman  entered  the  room,  while  she  was  in  that 
posture,  and  as  soon  as  she  discovered  him,  she  looked  up  at  him 
and  smiled.  He  abruptly  turned  his  heel  upon  her,  went  away, 
but  soon  returned,  saying  that  "  if  locks  would  not  hold  her,  he 
would  see  if  nails  would."  He  then  fastened  the  door  with  the 
"  nails,"  and  she,  alarmed  and  agitated,  raised  the  window  and 
made  an  outcry  for  help.  All  blame  for  this  transaction,  proba- 
bly without  much  inquiry,  was  thrown  upon  her,  and  the  sentence 
of  suspension  was  passed  upon  her  by  the  church  session.  When 
Mr  Beman  left  Georgia,  he  applied  to  the  session  for  a  certificate 
of  her  good  conduct,  which  was  denied,  with  an  assurance,  how- 
ever, that  if  he  would,  six  months  after  that  time,  write  to  them 
a  satisfactory  account  of  her  amendment,  they  would  restore  her 
to  the  church      He  has  repeatedly  said,  since  the  time  he  passed 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  247 

his  encomium  upon  her  to  the  committee,  that  she  was  ahvays  a 
woman  of  a  refractory  temper,  and  that  her  first  husband  fell  a 
sacrifice  to  it,  or  to  use  his  own  words,  "  she  wore  his  life  out, 
and  her  father  said  that  no  man  could  live  with  her." ' — Brief 
Account,  pp.  32,  33. 

A  connexion  begun  in  duplicity  and  prevarication,  it  could 
hardly  be  expected,  would  be  long  or  happy.  The  continuance 
of  his  domestic  difficulties,  and  the  consequent  exposure  of  his 
unfair  dealing  with  the  committee,  the  open  and  disgraceful 
scenes  to  which  his  frequent  and  violent  altercations  with  his 
wife  gave  rise,  the  unfavorable  aspect  which  these  occurrences 
wore  in  regard  to  his  own  temper,  even  supposing  his  wife  to 
have  been  the  first  aggressor,  and  the  failure  in  an  attempt  on 
his  part  to  obtain  a  legal  separation  from  her  ;  all  conspired  to 
bring  a  dark  cloud  over  his  character  and  prospects. 

'  In  this  state  of  the  case,  with  these  unfavorable  suspicions 
hanging  over  him,  he  determined,  by  assuming  an  unusual  degree 
of  zeal  in  the  cause  of  religion,  to  create  such  an  impression  of 
his  sanctity,  as  would  entirely  retrieve  his  falling  reputation.  He 
even  declared  to  a  respectable  member  of  his  church,  who  was 
warning  him  of  his  dangerous  situation,  that  if  a  successful 
revival  could  be  matured  under  his  auspices,  it  would  place  him 
beyond  the  reach  of  censure  ;  that  either  himself  or  his  wife 
must  be  sacrificed,  and  that  if  the  lot  fell  to  him,  it  might  be  of 
disservice  to  the  cause  of  religion.  He  appeared  to  conceive 
that  in  the  choice  of  the  victim,  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  parties 
were  not  to  be  taken  into  consideration,  but  policy  and  expediency 
were  only  to  be  regarded.  As  his  fall  would  be  followed  by  worse 
consequences  than  hers,  he  thought  that  she  ought  to  suffer ; 
and  it  was  with  this  strange  logic  in  his  mouth,  that  he  appealed 
to  his  friends  for  assistance  in  effecting  his  object.  A  revival 
must  be  commenced,  and  he  must  be  its  author.' — Brief  Account , 
p.  15. 

Having  adverted  to  the  origin  of  these  revivals,  we  shall  next 
mention  some  of  the  means  employed  in  getting  them  up. 

The  leading  and  principal  agent  in  this  work,  has  been  the 
Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney,  a  remarkable  man  in  many  respects. 
He  was  converted  to  Calvinism  a  few  years  since,  and  imme- 
diately left  the  study  of  the  law  for  divinity,  and  is  now  a  member 
of  the  Oneida  Presbytery.  In  a  letter  published  in  the  Bunker 
Hill  Contest  there  is  a  description  of  this  gentleman  as  a 
preacher,  w7hich,  the  authors  of  the  Narrative  admit,  may  assist 
the  reader  in  forming  a  tolerably  correct  opinion  of  his  manner. 


248  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

1  Now,  as  a  shrewd  and  bold  calculator  in  effecting  your  design- 
you  avail  yourself  of  Calvinism  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  flex- 
ible passions  of  men  on  the  other.  You  breast  yourself  to  the 
work  like  a  giant.  You  open  the  attack  with  Jupiter's  thunder- 
bolt. You  take  the  doctrine  for  a  damning  fact — declare  you 
know  it — raise  your  voice,  lift  high  your  hand,  bend  forward 
your  trunk,  fasten  your  staring  eyes  upon  the  auditors,  declare 
that  they  know  it  to  be  God's  truth,  that  they  stand  upon  the 
brink  of  hell's  gaping  pit  of  fire  and  brimstone,  and  bending 
over  your  body  and  bringing  your  clenched  fist  half  way  from  the 
pulpit  to  the  broad  aisle,  denounce  instant  and  eternal  damnation 
upon  them,  unless  they  repent  forthwith. 

'  This  frightens  the  feebleminded,  and  there  is  no  difficulty 
after  this  in  moulding  them  according  to  your  pleasure  and  pur- 
pose. But  there  is  a  set  of  men  capable  of  high  passionate 
excitement,  upon  whom  this^mode  of  management  has  no  other 
effect  than  to  produce  contempt  and  ridicule.  You  are  aware  of 
this,  and  you  resort  to  another  method  to  rouse  their  passions, 
well  knowing,  that  if  you  can  only  get  their  feelings  wrought  up 
to  a  high  pitch  in  any  manner,  they  then  lose  their  sober  sense 
and  self  command,  and  may  be  managed  like  an  Elephant  in  his 
chains.  To  accomplish  this,  you  call  them  out  by  name,  or  desig- 
nate them  in  public  prayer  before  all  the  people,  revile  them, 
multiply  opprobrious  and  galling  epithets,  and  whether  present  or 
absent,  you  of  course  make  them  mad  with  passion,  which  they 
vent  most  freely  and  fiercely,  with  indignant  ravings  and  curses 
on  your  person.  This  is  just  what  you  want.  This  makes  you 
laugh  inside,  however  sober  you  may  look  without.  You  remain 
unmoved  like  the  arch  spider  in  the  centre  of  his  web,  drawing 
the  cords  closer  and  tighter,  well  knowing  that  the  more  the  fly 
flounces  and  struggles,  the  more  he  entangles  himself  in  the 
snare,  and  overcome  at  length  by  self  action,  he  falls  a  panting 
and  exhausted  prey  to  his  all  devouring  adversary.  This,  sir,  is 
hitting  the  nail  on  the  head.  In  this  way  you  have  made  con- 
verts, not  to  be  converted  by  any  other  management. 

1  You  have  boasted  of  it,  and  said;  if  you  could  only  make  them 
mad,  you  were  sure  of  them,  the  victory  was  easy,  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world.  Here  then  we  have  the  exposition  of  the 
character  of  your  talents,  'and  your  acquaintance  with  human 
nature  in  this  peculiar  department  of  it. 

'  If  there  were  any  reason  in  the  world  for  the  hypothesis,  that 
you  may  possibly  be  a  sincere  deluded  man,  I  might  have  treated 
I  lie  subject  in  a  very  different  manner.  But  I  know  too  much  of 
you  and  your  performances,  both  from  personal  observation  and  the 
actual  history  of  your  proceedings,  to  be   led  into  any  such  mis- 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  249 

take.  To  represent  you  a  sincere  deluded  enthusiast  or  mis- 
guided fanatic,  would  be  to  misrepresent  you.' — Bunker  Hill 
Contest,  pp.  99,  100. 

We  doubt  whether  the  writer  of  this  letter  is  aware  of  the 
full  extent  to  which  cunning  and  fraud  are  compatible  with  a 
sincere  fanaticism.  At  the  same  time,  we  believe  that  the  in- 
flammatory, or  we  should  rather  say,  ferocious  style  of  preach- 
ing, for  which  Mr  Finney  appears  to  be  distinguished,  might 
easily  be  practised  by  a  man  possessing  his  peculiar  turn  of 
mind,  though  every  thing  were  feigned,  and  his  preaching 
might  become  as  effective  in  disturbing  the  community,  without 
supposing  him  to  have  extraordinary  powers.  The  coarse 
passions,  and  those  especially  which  are  expressed  in  strong 
and  boisterous  tones  and  gestures,  are  easily  affected  ;  and  there 
is  something  in  the  violent  action  of  the  speaker  in  such  cases, 
that  has  the  effect  to  excite  him,  and  make  him  appear  as  if  he 
were  in  earnest.  However  this  may  be,  the  preaching  above 
described  is  what  the  i  revival  ministers  '  term  pungent  preach- 
ing ;  and  as  this  is  one  of  the  principal  means  on  which  they 
rely  for  success,  it  may  be  proper  for  us  to  give  a  few  more 
specimens. 

The  following  is  the  closing  sentence  of  one  of  Mr  Finney's 
sermons  to  the  people  of  Utica. 

*  "  You  sinners  of  Utica,  and  some  of  you  who  now  hear  me, 
will  go  to  hell,  and  the  saints  and  angels  will  look  down  from 
heaven,  and  when  they  see  the  sinners  of  Utica,  in  the  lowest, 
deepest,  darkest  pit  of  hell,  they  will  shout  and  clap  their  hands 
for  joy."  This  is  said  to  be  the  spirit,  if  not  the  exact  letter 
of  your  sentence.  Neither  is  this  the  only  place  where  you  in- 
culcate similar  sentiments,  and  as  an  earnest,  or  foretaste  of  the 
extatic  joy  and  blissful  enjoyment  you  anticipate,  you  clapped 
your  hands  as  ycu  uttered  the  chant.' — Bunker  Hill  Contest, 
p.  95. 

This  gentleman  preached  several  times  at  Troy,  and  his 
language  on  two  of  these  occasions,  as  given  in  the  Brief  Ac- 
count, was  highly  characteristic. 

1  On  a  sabbath  evening  last  fall,  a  sermon  was  delivered  in 
,the  church  by  Mr  Finney,  in  which,  after  describing  the  lan- 
guage of  the  redeemed  in  heaven  as  being  "  not  unto  us,  but 
unto  thy  name  be  the  glory,"  he  said,  "  we  should  see  these 
restorationists  come  smoking  and  fuming  out  of  hell  to  the  gate 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  III.  32 


250  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

of  heaven ;  winch  being  opened,  they  will  say,  stand  away  you 
old  saints  of  God,  we  have  paid  our  own  debt,  we  have  a  better 
right  here  than  you  ;  and  you,  too,  Jesus  Christ,  stand  aside,  get 
out  of  our  way,  no  thanks  to  you  our  being  here  ;  we  come  here 
on  our  own  merits." 

1  In  a  sermon  delivered  last  fall  by  Finney,  after  representing 
the  extreme  depravity  of  the  sinner's  heart,  and  how  hostile  it 
was  to  God,  he  said,  "  why,  sinner,  I  tell  you  if  you  could  climb 
to  heaven,  you  would  hurl  God  from*  his  throne  ;  yes,  hurl  God 
from  his  throne  ;  O  yes,  if  you  could  but  get  there,  you  would 

cut  God's  throat ;  yes,  you  would  cut  God's  throat." 

#  #  #  * 

1  On  the  eighth  of  October  last,  in  the  afternoon,  Mr  Finney 
preached  from  these  words:  "Now,  therefore,  be  ye  not  mockers 
lest  your  bands  be  made  strong."  After  reproaching  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  for  their  cold  prayers,  which  he  described  as 
hypocritical  and  a  mockery  to  God,  he  said,  "  now,  servants  and 
children,  do  you  go  home  to  night,  and  watch  your  parents  and 
masters,  and  see  if  they  don't  pray  the  same  old  cold  hypocritical 
prayer  over  again  which  they  have  been  praying  many  years."  ' 

Brief  Account,  pp.  35,  36. 

Mr  Beman  was  not  likely  to  be  outdone  in  his  own  pulpit,  in 
a  kind  of  preaching  so  exactly  suited  to  his  genius  and  temper. 
Accordingly  we  find,  that, 

'  On  the  evening  of  the  thirteenth  of  September  last,  in  a 
sermon  delivered  at  the  upper  end  of  Fourth  Street,  Mr  Beman 
declared  that  "  he  should  follow  his  cold  professors  in  the  pulpit, 
and  in  preaching  from  house  to  house,  until  he  had  ferreted  them 
out,  and  driven  them  from  their  lurking  places,  and  stripped 
them  of  their  sheep  skins,  and  exposed  the  teeth  of  the  wolf."  ' 

Brief  Account,  p.  29. 

And  again  ; 

'  In  another  discourse,  he  said,  "  the  clerks  along  River  Street 
were  laughing  and  scoffing  at  God's  eternal  truth ;  they  were 
without  brains,  and  scarcely  ever  read  a  chapter  in  the  bible, 
and  he  had  no  doubt  if  they  could  get  to  heaven,  they  would 
pull  .God  from  his  throne,  and  burn  it  to  ashes."  Then  address- 
ing convicted  sinners,  he  said  "  your  prayers  are  rebellion  against 
God,  and  an  abomination  in  his  sight;"  and  in  addressing  sin- 
ners generally,  he  said,  "  if  you  dare  do  it,  you  would  club  God 
Almighty  out  of  Troy."  ' — Brief  Account,  p.  30. 

The  following  passages  are  still  more  offensive,  as  they  indi- 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals,  251 

cate  not  only  the  manner,  but  the  spirit,  in  which  this  minister 
thought  to  perform  the  office  of  one,  who  should  beseech  men 
by  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.  It  should  be  ob- 
served that  deacon  Heartt,  of  whom  mention  is  here  made,  had 
given  no  other  occasion  of  resentment  to  Mr  Beman,  but  by 
opposing  his  violent  measures. 

'  In  a  conversation  held  by  a  gentleman  of  this  city  with  Mr 
Beman,  he  said  that  "  it  was  not  strange  that  deacon  Heartt's 
children  conducted  improperly  ;  for,  says  he,  their  mother  is  an 
old  hypocrite,  and  their  father  is  not  much  better."  He  further 
said  that  "  Deacon  Heartt  was  reporting  and  circulating  lies  about 
him,  as  base  and  as  black  as  were  ever  forged  on  the  anvil  of 
hell."  He  continued  ;  "  if  he  does  not  desist,  I  will  rip  him  up 
root  and  branch  ;  I  will  expose  him  ;  and  if  I  am  not  permitted 
to  do  it  elsewhere,  I  will  do  it  from  the  pulpit.  The  public  shall 
know  and  understand  what  he  is  about.  I  will  pursue  him  until 
he  is  expelled  from  God's  church."  The  gentleman  then  re- 
spectfully recommended  to  him  the  expediency  of  mitigating  his 
ardor,  as  he  was  apprehensive  it  might  ultimately  destroy  the 
society.  He  said  that  "  he  should  not  alter  in  the  least ;  he 
should  not  retrace  a  single  step,  although  he  should  see  fire  and 
faggots  coming  into  his  face  and  eyes.  He  should  go  on  as  God 
directed  him  to  preach,  although  there  should  be  but  one  left  in 

the  house." 

*  #  *  * 

'In  one  of  his  sermons  he  said,  *'  complaints  have  been  made 
of  my  manner  of  preaching,  and  it  is  said  such  kind  of  preach- 
ing will  not  last  long.  But  you  need  not  flatter  yourselves  with 
that ;  for  I  have  but  just,  commenced.  I  shall  go  all  round  these 
pews,  and  shall  follow  you,  until  I  bring  you  all  upon  your  mar- 
rowbones.'"— Brief  Account,  pp.  34,  35. 

Pungent  preaching,  however,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
in  so  much  favor  with  the  instigators  of  these  disturbances,  as 
another  expedient  termed  by  them  '  agonizing  prayer,'  or  '  the 
prayer  of  faith,'  particularly  when  made  '  for  a  definite  object.' 
The  reflections  on  this  subject  in  the  Calm  Review,  are  tem- 
perate, judicious,  and  edifying. 

'  A  sermon  must  in  ordinary  hands  always  be  more  or  less  of 
a  preceptive  and  didactic  nature,  and  cannot  be  struck  out  as  it 
were  at  a  single  heat.  Brief  ejaculatory  exhortations  are  a  spe- 
cies of  address  more  within  the  compass  of  every  man  who  feels 
himself  moved  to  instruct  his  fellow  men  in  their  religious  course, 
and  can   be  made  to  bear  more  directly  upon  the  feelings  and 


252  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

passions  cither  of  individuals  or  of  multitudes.  But  it  is  through 
the  medium  of  prayer  that  the  devotional  mind  catches  its  highest 
inspirations,  and  "  kindling  as  it  goes"  soon  becomes  with  an 
enthusiastic,  a  designing,  or  an  unregulated  mind,  both  the  cause 
and  the  effect  of  that  effervescence  of  the  soul,  which  consumes 
in  its  fires  every  vestige  of  reason  and  reflection,  and  prostrates 
like  a  whirlwind  the  fairest  monuments  which  fall  within  its 
sweep.  And  il  has  accordingly  been  through  the  use,  or  rather 
the  misuse)  of  this  high  and  solemn  exercise  of  the  mind,  that  the 
character  of  this  work  and  of  its  indiscreet  agents,  has  been  most 
strikingly,  and  in  many  instances  lamentably  displayed.  Credulity 
itself  would  scarcely  credit  many  of  the  well  known  instances, 
both  in  matter  and  manner,  of  extravagant,  and  even  profane 
and  ludicrous  perversion  of  this  sacred  exercise,  which  have  oc- 
curred in  the  public  and  private  ministrations  of  this  sublimated 
school.  "  The  prayer  of  faith"  is  the  favorite  term  by  which  it 
has  been  characterised  and  distinguished,  and  to  be  able  to  attain 
to  it,  seems  at  once  to  have  been  the  object  of  the  highest  aspi- 
rations, and  a  sure  warrant  for  expecting  the  attainment  of  its 
every  petition.  From  this  unauthorised,  strange,  and  novel 
doctrine,  has  naturally  grown  both  the  excessive  vehemence,  and 
llic  individuality  by  which  these  exercises  have  been  peculiarly 
distinguished  in  the  course  of  this  work,  which  are  frequently 
alluded  to  with  so  much  commendation  in  the  history  of  it  lately 
given,  and  which  is  called  "  praying  for  a  definite  object."  It 
need  hardly  be  remarked  how  delicate  an  attempt,  even  in  skilful 
and  well  disciplined  hands,  is  such  a  personal  application  of  an 
address  to  the  Majesty  of  heaven  and  earth  in  behalf  of  our 
fellow  mortals,  whose  characters,  whose  frailties  and  whose  re- 
ligious affections  are  best  known  and  only  known  to  an  all-seeing 
Judge.  What  a  perilous  and  hazardous  attempt  must  it  then 
be  in  the  hands  of  a  clumsy  novice,  or  a  designing  agitator, 
heated  with  the  fumes  of  enthusiasm,  or  soured  with  the  obsta- 
cles of  opposition,  which  at  times  question  his  infallibility  or 
obstruct  his  progress.     And  it  is  from  aspirants  like  these — 

"  From  skulls  that  cannot  teach  and  will  not  learn," 

that  we  have  habitually  been  accustomed  to  hear  villages,  streets, 
houses,  and  individuals  singled  out  by  name  and  held  up  to  the 
surrounding  audience  as  a  spectacle  to  be  operated  upon  by  the 
rough  cleaver  of  a  coarse  operator,  until  the  unhappy  subject  of 
it  was  cither  driven  by  resentment  into  a  passionate  opposition 
to  the  whole  system,  or  by  fear  and  perplexity  driven  into  the 
system  itself,  by  a  blind  surrender  of  all  the  reasoning  faculties 
of  his  mind.' — Calm  Review,  pp.  14,  15. 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  253 

In  a  note  subjoined  the  writer  observes  further  : 

c  The  exploded  and  irrational  notion  of  the  miraculous  inter- 
position of  the  Deity  in  answer  to  prayers  "  for  a  definite  object," 
appears  also  to  be  meeting  with  considerable  countenance  with 
the  high  Calvinists  in  some  other  parts  of  our  country,  in  relation 
even  to  temporal  blessings.  Thus  in  a  late  Boston  Recorder,  in 
a  narrative  of  the  life  and  religious  experience  of  a  Miss  Colman 
lately  deceased,  it  is  stated  without  any  question  of  the  fact,  that 
"  at  the  age  of  twelve  years  she  was  afflicted  with  a  distressing 
disease  in  her  throat,  which  nearly  caused  her  death.  At  this 
time  she  was  the  subject  of  extreme  and  distressing  temptation. 
She,  however,  gave  herself  steadily  to  prayer,  and  her  tending 
physicians  declared,  that  the  complaint  left  her  suddenly,  and 
apparently  in  answer  to  prayer."  We  have  heard  it  stated  upon 
what  in  any  other  case  would  be  deemed  credible  authority,  that 
such  was  the  faith  of  certain  good  women  in  the  north  part  of 
the  county,  in  the  prayers  of  the  Rev.  Mr  N.  when  "  agoniz- 
ingly "  brought  to  bear  upon  "  a  definite  object,"  that  they  "  had 
no  doubt  of  the  conversion  of  any  particular  individual  whom  he 
should  select  and  pray  for  with  his  utmost  earnestness  lying  " 
(as  he  is  wont  to  do  in  a  recumbent  posture)  "  upon  his  belly  ! " 
Is  there  any  thing  more  irrational  than  these  suppositions,  in  the 
so  much  ridiculed  statements,  which  were  circulated  a  year  or 
two  since  of  the  miraculous  cures  said  to  have  been  performed, 
both  in  Europe  and  this  country,  through  the  ministrations, 
masses,  and  prayers  of  *  *  Prince  Hohenloe  1  And 
yet  there  is  probably  not  a  single  believer  in  the  first  mentioned 
special  interpositions,  who  would  not  reject  at  once  with  utter 
incredulity,  and  even  with  horror,  the  belief  in  the  bare  possi- 
bility of  the  latter,  though  certainly  sustained  by  much  more 
plausible  and  imposing  evidence  of  their  reality.' — Calm  Review, 
p.  16. 

On  this  topic  we  hardly  know  how  to  proceed.  Even  the 
abuses  of  prayer,  the  most  affecting  and  sublime  act  of  man, 
are  not  to  be  treated  with  levity,  or  spoken  of  contemptuously. 
It  must  have  a  bad  effect  to  connect  ludicrous  associations  with 
this  service  ;  and  we  are  sure  it  cannot  give  more  pain  to  any 
of  our  readers,  than  it  does  to  us,  to  dwell  on  the  errors  and 
excesses  by  which  it  has  been  degraded  and  profaned.  On 
the  other  hand,  were  we  to  pass  over  in  silence  the  disgusting 
and  shocking  details  that  follow,  we  should  be  unfaithful  to 
the  opportunity  afforded  of  demonstrating  the  legitimate  results 
of  that  system,  which  would  make  a  revival  of  religion  to 


254  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

depend  on  exciting  the  passions,  and   not  on   enlightening  the 
understanding. 

1  After  Mr  Finney  had  got  a  "  revival  "  well  a  going  in  Gover- 
ning in  St  Laurence  county,  in  1825,  he  had  a  call  and  went 
to  De  Kalb,  staid  a  few  weeks,  and  returned  to  Governieur.  On 
being  asked  by  his  friends  how  the  "  Revival  "  went  on  in  De 
Kalb,  he  said  "  they  were  very  cold.  When  the  old  church 
members  attempted  to  pray,  they  appeared  as  if  they  were  think- 
ing about  swapping  horses.''  He  said  "our  young  converts  in 
Governieur  will  pray  down  a  kingdom,  sooner  than  the  old  church 
members  will  pray  an  old  hen  off  her  nest."  Are  these,  too,  some 
of  the  "  pointed  arguments  and  strong  language  which  solemnly 
and  powerfully  impress  the  higher  as  well  as  the  lower  classes" 
in  Utica?  Rev.  Mr  Nash  (then  with  Mr  Finney  in  the  work,) 
could  often  be  heard  half  a  mile  when  alone  in  secret  prayer ; 
and  so  conducted  his  prayers,  that  some  of  their  converts  be- 
lieved and  contended,  that  he  could  and  had  prayed  his  horse 
from  one  pasture  into  another.' — Bunker  Hill  Contest,  p.  65. 

The  same  superstition  prevailed  also  at  Troy. 

*  Among  other  novel  doctrines  which  were  added  to  their 
creed,  was  a  notion  that  the  prayer  of  faith  would  be  heard  and 
infallibly  answered  ;  or  that  every  thing  asked  for  in  a  prayer 
made  in  a  certain  frame  of  mind,  would  immediately  be  granted. 
We  will  not  insult  the  understandings  of  our  readers  by  attempt- 
ing to  prove  the  absurdity  of  such  a  belief,  but  we  will  give 
them  an  opportunity  of  seeing  to  what  improprieties  it  drove,  at 
least  one  of  its  advocates.  He  called  at  the  store  of  a  gentleman, 
and  asked  him  if  he  ever  prayed,  if  he  ever  made  the  prayer  of 
faith  ?  The  reply  was,  if  we  have  been  correctly  informed,  that 
he  never  had,  and  indeed  that  he  did  not  know  the  nature  of 
such  a  prayer.  His  ghostly  friend  then  explained  it  to  him,  and 
told  him  that  if  he  would  retire  to  some  secret  room  with  him,  he 
would  give  him  a  specimen  of  it,  and  that  he  would  then  soon 
become  himself  a  witness  of  its  efficacy.  This  proposal  was 
assented  to  and  they  both  withdrew  to  another  apartment,  where 
a  prayer  of  an  hour  and  a  half's  duration  was  offered  up,  and 
very  patiently  heard  by  the  attentive  auditor,  whose  conviction 
and  conversion  were  the  principal  objects  of  the  petition.  The 
result,  however,  was  never  such  as  to  induce  him  to  have  that 
confidence   in    the  prayer   of  faith  which  had  been  anticipated.'- 

Brief  Account i  p.  18. 

It  appears,  indeed,  to  have  been  a  common  practice  at  their 
conference  and  prayer  meetings  to  mention  individuals  by  name 
in  their  prayers,  and   call   down  fire  from  heaven  on  them  and 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  255 

their  families,  if  they  continued  their  opposition  to  the  '  great 
work.'  We  shall  give  but  one  case  of  this  description,  the 
prayer  respecting  Col.  A.  G.  Mappa,  though  this  is  one  which 
speaks  volumes  ;  premising  only  that  affidavits  of  persons 
present  on  the  occasion  are  published  in  the  Letter  to  the 
Presbytery,  which' prove,  '  that  Mr  Perkins  has  not,  in  his  Bun- 
ker Hill  Contest,  exaggerated  this  prayer,  but  has  come  short 
in  their  opinion.'*  In  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  S. 
Smith,  who  made  the  prayer  now  under  consideration,  the 
writer  says : 

'  Sir,  I  shall  state  facts  that  you  will  not  deny — 1st,  that  on  the 
23d  ult.  in  the  town  of  Trenton,  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Oliver 
Wetmore,  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  place,  in 
public  conference  and  prayer  meeting,  you  exhorted  a  large 
assembly  to  name  and  distinguish  individuals,  "  as  they  do  in 
Utica,"  and  wrestle  with  God  for  their  conviction,  and  afterwards 
named  an  individual  whose  hoary  head  had  been  whitened  with 
three-score  and  ten  years,  and  who  has  long  been  a  professor  of 
the  christian  religion,  constant  and  regular  in  his  attendance  at 
the  house  of  public  worship,  and  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  and 
that  with  apparent  devotion  ;  of  whom,  and  his  house,  the  virtuous 
poor,  the  widow,  and  fatherless  cannot  speak  without  tears  of 
gratitude ;  whose  moral  example  and  precept  have  contributed 
more  than  that  of  any  other  man  to  preserve  the  town  and  village 
in  which  he  resides,  from  those  excesses  of  tavern  haunting,  pro- 
fanity, and  licentiousness  of  many  descriptions,  which  disgrace 
many  towns  and  villages.  Against  such  a  man  you  have  lifted 
up  your  voice  to  God  in  public  prayer,  named,  and  distinguished 
him,  and  called  "  on  God  to  smite  that  wicked  man,  that  hardened 
sinner,  who  never  prays,  that  stubborn  rebel,  that  self  righteous 
Pharisee,  who  stands  on  an  eminence  and  has  embraced  a  lie, 
and  is  leading  multitudes  that  entrench  themselves  behind  him, 
down  to  hell.  O  God,  send  trouble,  anguish,  and  affliction  into 
his  bed  chamber  this  night,  shake  his  house  over  him,  and  cause 
him  to  tremble  ;  God  Almighty  shake  him  over  hell !"  ' — Bunker 
Hill  Contest,  pp.  80,  81. 

The  horror  which  one  feels  for  such  language  in  prayer  to 
God,  is  changed,  however,  into  unmingled  indignation,  when  we 
learn  that  all  this  is  regarded,  at  least  by  the  leaders,  merely  as 
a  cunning  device,  to  impose  on  the  ignorant  and  inexperienced. 
When  Mr  Beman  first  began  to  inculcate  the  '  revival  views'  of 
'  the  prayer  of  faith,'  we  are  told,  that, 

p   n. 


'250  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

1  The  avowal  of  this  doctrine  occasioned  much  perplexity  and 
uneasiness  among  that  portion  of  the  church  members,  who  still 
remained  rational  and  orthodox.  One  of  them,  Mrs  Brower,  sent 
a  request  to  Wm.  M.  Bliss,  Esquire,  an  elder  of  the  church,  to  call 
upon  her,  and  explain  the  novelty.  He  complied,  and  after  she 
had  remarked  howunscriptural  and  how  contrary  to  reason  it  was, 
he  assented  to  the  propriety  of  her  observations  ;  but  said  that  it 
was  supported  simply  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  revival  ;  and 
for  that   reason  solicited   her  to   manifest  no  opposition  to   it.1 

Brief  Account,  p.  28. 

As  another  means  of  effecting  their  object,  the  fomenters  of 
these  excitements  rely  much  on  what  are  called  '  inquiry  meet- 
ings' and  '  anxious  meetings.'  Speaking  of  Finney,  Mr  Per- 
kins says ; 

'  When  he  enters  a  place  to  get  up  a  "  revival  "  his  first  step  is 
to  institute  meetings,  styled  "  meetings  of  inquiry,"  nocturnal, 
and  in  various  parts  of  the  towns.  These  are  the  foundations  on 
which  he  builds  the  superstructure  of  his  u  revivals."  They  are 
free  for  all  of  every  age,  sect,  and  denomination. 

'  The  thunders  of  Sinai,  the  flaming  curses  of  a  broken  law, 
the  horrors  of  the  pit,  and  all  the  epithets  of  lamentation  and 
despair,  are  put  in  requisition  by  the  most  consummate  skill,  to 
produce  consternation  and  dismay  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
attend  the  meetings.  Those  whose  minds  are  under  the  domin- 
ion of  credulity  and  implicit  faith,  and  who  expect  religion  to 
come  upon  them  in  horrible  feelings  and  great  convictions,  are 
soon  brought  down.  In  the  latter  part  of  these  meetings,  the 
question  is  put  generally,  "  Who  wishes  to  be  prayed  for  to  night, 
or  who  is  willing  to  give  up  his  soul  to  God !" 

•  Many  will  be  found  ready  to  answer  in  the  affirmative,  few  will 
be  found  to  negative  such  a  question  at  such  a  time.  Those  who 
wish  to  be  prayed  for,  or  express  a  willingness  to  give  up  their 
souls  to  God,  must  then  kneel.  In  one  of  these  meetings,  after  get- 
ting several  small  girls  on  their  knees  to  be  prayed  for,  Mr  Finney 
told  them,  f<  that  if  they  got  up  without  giving  up  their  hearts  to 
God,  their  doom  would  be  sealed  forever,"  and  some  of  them  did 
get  up,  and  he  then  looked  up  and  said  "  that  he  then  beheld  the 
angels  of  God  sealing  their  eternal  doom,  and  that  they  had 
sealed  it  with  a  great  broad  seal,  and  it  was  laid  up  not  to  be 
opened  till  the  last  judgment,  and  would  then  be  opened  and 
they  be  doomed  to  endless  wo."  ' — Bunker  Hill  Contest,  p.  57. 

After  this  description  we  were  not  a  little  surprised  to  learn, 
that  Mr  Finney  is  not  generally  as  hard  and  outrageous  in  these 
meetings  as  some  of  the  vouns;  theological  students,  who  have 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  257 

become   his  followers,   and   endeavor  to   ape  his   style   and 
manner.' 

*  The  next  step  in  course,  in  these  "  revivals,"  is  to  establish 
what  are  termed  "  anxious  meetings."  Their  name  would  seem 
to  denote  them  to  be  meetings  for  those,  who  are  anxious  for  their 
souls'  salvation.  The  object  of  these  meetings  is,  to  ascertain 
who  are  anxious  about  their  spiritual  and  eternal  welfare,  to 
know  who  have  obtained  hopes,  and  to  bring  hope  to  the  con- 
victed and  distressed. 

'  The  prayers  and  exhortations  are  somewhat  similar  to  those  of 
the  meetings  of  inquiry.  In  most  cases,  in  anxious  meetings,  the 
saints  and  sinners  are  separated  and  occupy  different  rooms,  when 
they  can  be  had. 

1  They  are  generally,  if  not  always  held  in  the  night.  The 
room  is  darkened,  so  that  persons  can  only  see  to  walk  and  dis- 
cover each  other,  and  the  reign  of  universal  silence  is  interrupted 
only  by  now  and  then  a  dolorous  groan  from  different  parts  of  the 
room.  The  leader  or  leaders  tread  softly  about  as  they  proceed, 
whispering  to  each  individual  some  question  or  questions,  such 
as  "  do  you  love  God  ?"  "  do  you  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?" 
"  have  you  made  your  peace  with  God  I"  "  or  do  you  wish  to  do 
so?"  "have  you  got  a  hope?"  or  some  other  question  of  this 
nature,  with  now  and  then  an  interrogation,  "  don't  you  think  this 
is  a  solemn  place  ?"  "  don't  you  think  God  is  here  ?"  "  don't  you 
feel  awful  ?"  One  was  asked,  "  well  Mr  P.,  what  do  you  think  ?" 
God  knows  my  thoughts,  said  Mr  P. — "  I  know  that ;  so  do  I." 
No,  sir,  said  Mr  P.,  you  cannot  know  my  thoughts.  "  It  will  not 
do,  Mr  P.,  to  tell  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  that  he  does  not  know 
your  thoughts." 

'  Questions  are  generally  put  in  a  low  whisper,  and,  if  any  one 
answers  aloud,  he  is  requested  to  speak  low. 

'In  some  of  these  meetings  a  lad  was  interrogated,  but  being 
intimidated,  and  fearing  he  should  not  answer  properly  or  to 
satisfaction,  was  silent.  He  was  forthwith  named,  and  the  saints 
were  called  upon  to  pray  for  Joseph  Pride,  and  prayers  were 
offered  for  Joseph  Pride,  that  he  might  be  delivered  of  a  dumb 
devil.' — Bunker  Hill  Contest,  pp.  58,  59. 

The  authors  of  the  Narrative  are  not  entirely  satisfied  with 
these  accounts ;  though,  as  usual,  they  dare  not  deny  any  of 
the  material  and  express  statements,  but  content  themselves 
with  remarking,  that  one  '  would  suppose  from  this  description  of 
these  meetings,  that  going  into  them  was  like  going  into  the 
sepulchres   of  the  dead.'*      It  seems   to  have  escaped  the 

*  p.  73. 
VOL.   IV. NO.  in.  33 


258  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

attention  of  these  gentlemen,  that  the  communications  of 
their  own  friends,  published  in  the  Narrative,  corroborate  and 
establish  every  thing  which  Mr  Perkins  has  advanced  on  this 
view  of  the  subject.  In  commenting  on  what  they  consider  the 
happy  effect  of  these  meetings,  they  say,  4  a  death-like  stillness' 
reigned,  a  '  solemn  awe,  such  as  I  never  before  witnessed  f 
'  sometimes  there  would  be  a  burst  of  feeling  in  groans  and 
loud  weeping;'  '  a  number  fell,  and  some  were  unable  to  go 
from  the  place  till  morning;'  'compelled  to  remain  in  some 
instances  agonizing  in  prayer,  till  almost  the  breaking  of  day.'* 
If  all  these  efforts  fail,  they  have  still  another,  which,  as  it  has 
often  been  resorted  to  in  other  places,  claims  special  notice. 
They  '  creep  into  houses,'  and  by  availing  themselves  of  seasons 
of  sickness,  or  affliction,  or  of  the  absence  of  those  members  of 
the  family  who  would  be  most  likely  to  detect  their  arts,  and 
chastise  their  impertinence,  they  are  able  not  unfrequently  to 
act  with  considerable  success  on  the  minds  of  the  rest.  The 
committee  say  in  their  Narrative  ;  '  Now  what  have  Mr  Wet- 
more  and  Mr  Smith  done  t  They  have  gone  into  none  of  the 
meetings  of  the  Unitarians,  to  enter  the  lists  of  controversy  with 
them.  They  have  not  entered  their  private  dwellings,  to 
proselyte  them.'f  We  are  sorry  to  be  under  the  necessity 
of  pointing  out  so  glaring  an  inaccuracy  in  a  statement  so  mate- 
rial to  their  justification;  and  for  this  purpose  must  introduce 
the  substance  of  two  depositions  furnished  by  Mr  Perkins  in  his 
Letter  to  the  Presbytery.     The  first  is  of 

1  Nancy  Post,  who,  being  duly  sworn,  saith  that  she  belongs 
to  the  Unitarian  Church  in  Trenton,  and  that  she  was  visited 
by  the  Rev.  Messrs  Smith,  Clarry,  and  Goodel ;  and  in  the 
course  of  half  an  hour's  conversation,  they  told  me  repeat- 
edly that  I  denied  the  Bible,  and  that  I  denied  Jesus  Christ  ; 
that  I  trembled  and  quaked  every  time  I  looked  into  the  Bible  ; 
and  said  "  you  do  not  love  God — unless  you  repent  you  will  go 
to  hell."  Mr  Smith  observed,  that  he  knew  the  heart  of  a  per- 
son in  the  house  better  than  he  did  himself.  The  person  told 
him  he  had  no  right  to  make  such  observations  ;  to  which  he 
replied,  he  had  a  commission  from  God.' — Letter  to  the  Prctby- 
tcry,  p.  18. 

In  another  deposition  Elizabeth  Parker  testifies, 

'that  in  the  month  of  May,  1826,  while  attending  her  daughter, 
Mrs  Johnson  (now  deceased)   in  her  last  sickness,  in  a  very  low 

*pp.  10.  14,81.        tp-  76. 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  259 

stage  of  consumption,  a  Mr  Goodell,  said  to  be  under  the  sup- 
port of  the  Western  Education  Society,  and  was  then  said  to  be 
itinerating,  and  assisting  the  Rev.  Mr  Wetmore  in  the  height  of 
the  "  revival,"  followed  Mrs  Johnson's  father-in-law  into  the 
house,  and  pressed  himself  into  the  room  where  she  lay,  and 
awoke  Mrs  Johnson  by  some  alarming  representations  of  the 
condition  of  one  just  leaving  the  world.  Mrs  Johnson  having 
previously  heard  of  Mr  Smith's  prayer  for  Col.  Mappa,  and  many 
other  attacks  on  other  individuals,  had  requested  that  none  of 
the  young  ministers  or  itinerants  should  be  permitted  to  approach 
her. — I  asked  Mr  Goodell  repeatedly  to  leave  the  room.  He  said 
to  me,  I  shall  not  be  hurried  out  of  the  room  by  you,  I  shall  take 
my  own  time  for  it — I  am  concerned  about  her  soul  ;  and  soon 
stepped  out  of  the  room  and  said,  come  out,  old  woman,  I  am 
concerned  about  your  soul  too.  Mr  and  Mrs  Thomson  were 
both  Unitarians.' — Ibid.  p.  19. 

A  scene  given  in  the  Brief  Account  of  the  difficulties  at 
Troy,  with  much  minuteness,  and  apparently  on  the  best  au- 
thority, may  serve  to  set  this  part  of  the  policy  of  these  minis- 
ters, and  its  unhappy  tendencies,  in  still  stronger  light.  Mr 
Beman  appears  to  have  fixed  his  eyes  on  Mrs  Weatherby,  a 
member  of  his  church,  with  a  determination  to  make  her,  if 
possible,  a  subject  of  the  prevailing  enthusiasm  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  had  held  at  least  one  conversation  with  her,  in  which 
he  had  treated  her  with  his  accustomed  harshness  and  severity. 

'  Upon  the  subsequent  day,  the  3d  of  October,  1826,  Mrs 
Weatherby  was  at  the  house  of  her  sister-in-law,  Mrs  Mosier, 
when  Mr  Beman  entered,  supported  by  Mr  Finney,  a  powerful 
assistant  in  the  work  of  fanaticism  and  vulgarity  which  he  was 
meditating.  This  scene  cannot  be  more  properly  represented 
than  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  attributing  to  each  speaker  the 
words  actually  uttered,  or  at  all  events  retaining  the  precise  and 
intended  meaning.  The  dramatis  persona  are  Mr  Beman,  Mr 
Finney,  Mrs  Mosier,  and  Mrs  Weatherby. 

'  Mr  Beman  (to  Mrs  Mosier.) — Were  you  ever  under  convic- 
tion 1 

1  Mrs  Mosier. — I  cannot  say  whether  I  ever  have  been  or  not. 
My  mind  has  been  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  reli- 
gion at  different  times. 

'  Mr  B- — What  is  the  state  of  your  mind  now  ? 

'  Mrs  M. — It  is  not  as  much  impressed  as  it  has  been  heretofore  1 

1  Mr  B. — Men  wear  off  their  convictions  by  running  into  dissi- 
pation and  frequenting  tippling  houses,  and  women  wear  off 
theirs  by  going  into  gay  company. 


260  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

*  Mrs  31—1  was  never  fond  of  gay  company  ;  I  am  of  a  do* 
mestic  turn. 

i   )jr  yj._ You  are  worse,  then,  than  other  women  ;  for  you 
can  stay  at  home  and  wear  off  your  convictions. 
'  Mr  Finney. — \)o  you  love  God  ? 
'  Mrs  M.—I  think  I  do. 

*  MrF.  (shaking  his  fist  in  her  face) — You  lie  !  What  reason 
have  you  to  think  you  love  God  ? 

'  Mrs  31.—  When  I  look  upon  the  works  of  creation,  I  feel  to 
praise  and  adore  him. 

1  Mr  F. — You  ought  to  go  to  hell,  and  you  must  repent. 

1  Mrs  M. — I  cannot. 

'  Mr  F.  (again  putting  his  fist  in  her  face) — You  lie  !  You  can 
repent  and  be  converted  immediately. 

'  Mrs  31. — I  cannot. 

*  3Ir  F.  (again  putting  his  fist  in  her  face) — You  lie  ! 

i  31rs  31. — How  can  I  get  the  new  birth  unless  God  gives  it  to 
me  ? 

'  Mr  F. — You  ought  to  be  damned. 

*  3Irs  Weatherby.— Mr  Finney,  you  have  told  Mrs  Moiser  that 
she  could  regenerate  herself,  and  give  herself  the  new  birth  ; 
now,  if  you  will  inform  her  it  will  edify  me. 

'  Mr  F. — Are  you  a  Christian,  and  ask  such  a  question  1 

*  3frs  W.—I  trust  I  am,  and  would  like  to  have  it  answered. 
1  Mr  F. — How  can  you  love  your  husband  1 

4  3Irs  IV. — Love  is  a  passion  I  have  never  heard  described. 

1  3Ir  Beman. — Mrs  Weatherby,  you  have  said  you  were  a  Chris- 
tian, and  dare  you  ask  two  of  God's  ministers  such  a  question  ? 

1  Mrs  W. — Yes,  I  dare  ask  it,  and  Ihave  asked  it  once  before, 
and  it  appears  that  it  cannot  be  answered.' — Brief  Account,  pp. 
31—33. 

Here  closed  this  very  unedifying  interview.  The  husband 
of  Mrs  Weatherby,  who  is  master  of  one  of  the  North  River 
vessels,  was  extremely  indignant  at  the  treatment  which  his  wife 
had  received,  as  might  be  expected  ;  and  determined  to  come 
to  some  explanation  on  the  subject  with  Mr  Beman,  whenever 
they  should  meet. 

1  Two  days  after  he  saw  him  in  front  of  his  own  house,  when  he 
spoke  to  him,  and  requested  him  to  enter  it  with  him.  The  invi- 
tation was  accepted,  and  both  went  in,  each  taking  a  seat  at  the 
opposite  ends  of  a  table,  when  the  ensuing  dialogue  passed  be- 
tween them  : 

*  MrB. — I  suppose  you  want  to  talk  on  religion,  for  I  talk  on 
nothing  else. 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  261 

*  Mr  W. — Not  on  that  in  particular.  I  want  to  talk  with  you 
concerning  the  conversation  you  had  with  my  wife  and  sister  at 
M  osier's. 

c  Mr  B.  (clenching  hisjist  and  shaking  it  within  a  few  inches 
of  Mr  W.'s  face.) — Capt.  Weatherby,  you  will  go  to  hell  ;  God 
will  send  you  to  hell. — (This  was  repeated  several  times.) 

'  Mr  \V. — Mr.  Beman,  you  must  not  say  that  again,  for  I  can- 
not bear  it. 

1  Mr  B.  (in  a  louder  tone  of  voice.) — You  will  go  to  hell. 

1  Mr  Weatherby's  patience  was  now  completely  exhausted,  and 
seizing  Mr  Beman,  he  threw  him  upon  the  floor.  While  he  was 
held  in  this  attitude,  he  looked  Mr  Weatherby  in  the  face,  and 
repeated  his  favorite  expression,  "  you  are  going  to  hell,"  several 
times.  Mr  Weatherby  then  explained  to  him  his  readiness  to 
release  him,  whenever  his  nonsense  should  cease,  and  he  finally 
executed  his  promise  without  exacting  the  condition.  Mr  Be- 
man then  arose,  walked  up  to  the  lookingglass,  and,  after  taking 
a  view  of  his  physiognomy,  again  began  to  reiterate  his  old  song, 
"  You  will  go  to  hell."  At  this  time  Mrs  Weatherby  came  into 
the  apartment,  when  Mr  W^eatherby  again  laid  hold  of  him  in 
the  same  manner  as  before  ;  Mr  Beman,  when  down,  still  utter- 
ing the  same  offensive  declaration.  Mrs  Weatherby  requested 
her  husband  to  relinquish  his  hold  of  Mr  Beman,  which  he  flatly 
refused  to  do,  until  he  should  stop  his  maledictions.  She  then 
implored  Mr  Beman  to  desist,  for  her  husband  would  not  endurerit. 
Upon  rising,  although  the  imprudence  of  such  obstinacy  must 
have  been  very  manifest  to  him,  he  again  said,  "  God  will  send 
you  hell."  To  this  Mr  Weatherby  replied,  "  God  may,  but  you 
cannot."  Mr  Beman  then  went  into  the  hall,  and  from  thence 
to  the  door  that  leads  out  of  the  house  into  the  street,  where  he 
said,  "  If  this  door  is  not  immediately  opened  I  will  halloo  mur- 
der." Mrs  Weatherby  had  before  said  that  she  would  open  the 
door  with  all  convenient  speed,  when  Mr  Beman  raised  both 
hands  and  yelled  "  murder."  '     Brief  Account,  pp.  23,  24. 

But  enough,  and  some  may  think,  too  much,  of  this  disgusting 
recital.  With  respect  to  the  immediate  effects  of  these  awak- 
enings, we  hope  and  believe,  that  some  of  them  have  been 
salutary  and  good.  Persons  before  wholly  indifferent  to  religion 
have  been  induced  to  attend  to  the  subject ;  the  profane  and 
the  scoffer  have  in  many  cases  been  reformed,  at  least  for  a 
time ;  for  the  moment  more  regard  has  been  paid  to  some  of 
the  outward  means  of  religion,  and  some  of  its  outward  acts, 
and  an  air  of  greater  solemnity  and  thoughtfulness  has  spread 
itself  over  the  community.     We  do  not  find  in  these  accounts, 


262  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

nor  in  the  accounts  we  have  read  of  other  similar  excitements, 
many  well  attested  instances  even  of  a  temporary  reformation 
in  persons  addicted  to  any  of  the  open  and  gross  vices,  except- 
ing profanity,  and  indifference  to  religion.  We  have  often  heen 
in  the  midst  of  these  revivals,  and  have  directed  our  inquiries 
to  this  point ;  and  yet  we  are  hardly  ahle  to  refer  to  a  single 
instance  of  a  real  and  permanent  reformation,  at  such  seasons,  of 
a  man  habitually  guilty  of  avarice,  intemperance,  or  sensuality. 
The  truth  is,  that  the  general  statements  asserting  the  frequency 
of  such  reformations,  which  are  often  made  by  the  friends  of 
this  mode  of  propagating  religion,  are  without  foundation  ;  and 
are  adapted  to  leave  an  impression  that  is  deceptive  and  false. 
Excitements  like  those  which  we  have  described,  may  have 
some  good  results,  but  reformations  of  the  kind  just  mentioned 
are  not  of  this  number.  Besides,  as  to  the  permanency  of  what 
is  really  good  m  these  religious  commotions,  much  cannot  be 
said,  much  must  not  be  expected.  Mr  Beman  himself  asserted, 
that  in  a  revival,  which  took  place  in  Troy  in  1 8 16,  'there 
were  but  about  eighty  received  into  the  church,  and  of  that 
number  forty  were  now  under  church  censure.'*  It  is  proper, 
however,  to  observe  that  his  accusers  maintain,  that  on  this 
subject,  as  on  almost  every  other  which  he  touched,  he  has 
been  guilty  of  misrepresentation.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  per- 
fectly well  understood,  that  these  excitements  in  all  cases  die 
away;  and  that  the  coldness  and  deadness  of  feeling  which 
ensue  even  in  the  best  men,  bear  a  very  exact  proportion  to 
the  previous  fervor  and  elevation. 

After  the  foregoing  details,  it  cannot  be  necessary  for  us  to 
dwell  for  a  moment  on  the  bad  effects,  immediate  and  remote, 
of  these  excesses,  remarking  only,  as  we  pass,  that  time  as  yet 
has  unfolded  but  a  small  part  of  them  ;  division  and  estrange- 
ment of  families,  a  neglect  and  contempt  of  the  social  duties, 
the  ascendency  of  men  of  coarse  and  vulgar  minds,  a  presump- 
tuous reliance  on  supposed  divine  impulses,  impertinent  inter- 
ference in  the  affairs  of  others,  and  outrages  on  decency  and 
order  disgracing  religion,  leading  to  violent  altercations,  and 
provoking  mutual  injury.  The  following  passage  from  the 
Brief  Account  states  the  consequences  of  Mr  Finney's  first 
visit  to  Troy  ;  and  though  the  description  may  be  perhaps  a 
little  overwrought,  we  have  no  reason  to  doubt  its  general  cor- 
rectness.    At  any  rate  it  should  be  considered,  that  this  is  not 

*  Brief  Account,  p.  3-1. 


The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals.  2G3 

the  testimony  of  Unitarians,  or  c  Socinians,'  as  some  still  have 
the  meanness  to  miscall  them,  but  of  a  part  of  Mr  Beman's 
church  and  congregation,  who  are  as  Orthodox  as  he  is  ;  nay, 
who  make  it  one  of  their  principal  charges  against  him,  that  he 
has  swerved  not  a  little  from  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith. 

'  Mr  Finney's  appearance  here,  where  his  reputation  had  pre- 
ceded him,  instantly  aroused  the  public  curiosity,  and  great 
numbers  flocked  to  hear  him.  The  enemies  of  revelation  re- 
joiced that  an  opportunity  was  offered  them  to  throw  their  re- 
proaches upon  it  with  some  color  of  propriety,  as  represented 
through  so  falsifying  a  medium,  and  listened  to  him  with  sincere 
delight.  Those  who  possessed  either  taste  or  information,  felt 
themselves  insulted  by  the  supposition,  that  their  minds  could 
either  be  gratified  by  the  oratory,  or  their  understandings  influ- 
enced by  the  reasonings,  of  this  ignorant  ranter.  Real  piety 
was  afflicted  to  witness  the  destruction  he  was  dealing  upon  its 
cause.  The  growing  discontent  of  the  church  and  congrega- 
tion was  manifested  by  numbers  forsaking  their  usual  place  of 
worship,  and  frequenting  those  of  other  denominations,  Infi- 
delity and  profanity  no  longer  sought  their  secret  dens,  but  stalk- 
ed openly  and  without  disguise  through  the  streets  ;  and  even 
children,  learning  the  blasphemous  language  of  Mr  Finney, 
would  repeat  and  emblazon  it  at  the  public  corners.' — Brief 
Account,   p.  20- 

The  '  plain  farmer '  gives  his  views  of  the  character  and 
moral  influence  of  these  revivals  in  his  own  peculiar  man- 
ner, though,  we  fear,  some  may  think  that  he  has  forgotten 
the  gravity  and  seriousness  of  the  subject. 

1  The  monstrous  impositions  and  unaccountable  chimeras  that 
have  been  palmed  upon  mankind  in  their  secular,  as  well  as  spi- 
ritual concerns,  should  be  a  standing  admonition  "  to  try  the 
spirits,"  and  contend  for  the  free  exercise  of  reason  in  all  the 
concerns  of  life.  How  often  have  the  credulous  been  egregious- 
ly  imposed  upon  in  their  worldly  concerns  by  those  who  pretend 
to  have  wonderful  discoveries  and  illuminations,  and  who  deal  in 
mysteries.  How  many  otherwise  sensible  and  discreet  men  have, 
by  artful  and  designing  impostors,  carrying  in  their  hand  the  mys- 
terious and  wonderful  divining  rod,  been  led  to  expend  their  sub- 
stance and  time  in  searching  for  golden  treasures,  or  Kidd's 
money,  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  to  the  neglect  of  the  slow  but 
sure  method  which  consists  in  a  diligent  cultivation  of  its  sur- 
face.— Every  "  plain  farmer,"  especially  if  he  "  dealt  much  in 
horses,"  will   recollect  that  not  many  years  since  a  mysterious 


264  The  Oneida  and  Troy  Revivals. 

skill  was  said  to  be  discovered,  called  the  "  colt  skill,"  and  a  new 
era  was  proclaimed  in  the  manner  of  taming  and  subduing  wild 
and  refractory  colts  and  horses.  It  was  declared  that  the  wildest 
and  most  ungovernable  could  be  brought,  from  a  state  of  nature 
and  opposition,  to  a  state  of  complete  subjection,  in  one  hour  by 
that  skill ;  and  if  universal  "  faith  "  could  be  inspired,  not  a  sin- 
gle refractory  horse  would  remain  in  the  land.  Pedestrians  and 
equestrians  were  multiplied  astonishingly,  and  were  on  the  alert 
in  every  direction,  to  accomplish  the  good  work.  Some  may 
have  the  curiosity  to  inquire  what  was  the  process  that  produced 
such  a  wonderful  change  1  It  will  be  remembered,  that,  the  halter 
being  on,  the  poor  animal  must  be  blindfolded,  his  ears  stopped, 
and  something  given  him  to  nauseate  his  stomach ;  he  must  then 
be  turned  rapidly  on  a  circle  till  he  has  lost  all  sense  and  instinct, 
and  become  completely  bewildered,  amazed,  and  astounded,  and, 
if  able  to  stand  or  walk  at  all,  would  only  grope  about  for  a 
while  in  the  most  wretched  and  abject  condition. — Some  farmers 
hud  faith,  and  some  had  not;  and  those  who  had,  found  that 
when  the  physical  effects  of  the  operation  were  over,  and  the 
poor  animal  gradually  became  fit  for  any  useful  employment,  he 
would,  by  degrees,  sink  back  into  his  original  state  of  nature, 
and  this  great  discovery,  which  promised  to  effect  such  a  myste- 
rious change,  instantly  as  it  were,  was,  after  a  sufficient  trial, 
laid  aside — and  the  good  old  way  of  preserving  the  animal's 
senses,  and  "training  him  up  in  the  way  he  should  go,"  and  in- 
ducing him,  by  kind  arts,  to  yield  a  cheerful  obedience,  has  come 
into  general  use  again  with  all  practical  farmers.' — Letter  to  the 
Presbytery,  pp.  9 — 11. 

We  have  purposely  confined  ourselves  to  a  consideration  of 
what  has  been  done  in  Troy  and  Oneida  County,  reserving 
for  a  future  number  a  discussion  of  the  whole  subject  of  revi- 
vals, a  subject  which  is  growing  every  day  more  and  more 
important  and  interesting.  Referring  to  the  Bunker  Hill  Con- 
test, the  Orthodox  committee  say  in  the  Appendix  to  their 
Narrative  : 

'  We  may  from  this  pamphlet  see  what  is  soon  to  be  the  divid- 
ing line  between  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of 
Christ.  Those  who  possess  some  measure  of  the  spirit  of  Him, 
who,  though  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through  his 
poverty  might  become  rich,  by  whatever  name  they  may  be  call- 
ed, will  become  united  in  promoting  revivals  of  religion,  and  in 
diffusing  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  among  all  nations,  by  cast- 
ing their  silver  and  their  gold  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord.  All 
who  are  not  actuated  by  this  spirit,  whether  called  Christian  or 


Christian  Guide.  265 

Pagan,  Papist  or  Protestant,  Jew  or  Mahomedan,  will  unite  in 
opposing  these  benevolent  designs.  Between  these  unnumbered 
hosts  a  mighty  battle  is  yet  to  be  fought.  God,  in  his  providence, 
is  hastening  the  hour  of  decision.  All  the  noise  of  the  enemy 
now  heard,  compared  with  what  will  ere  long  be  heard,  is  no 
more  than  the  murmurs  of  the  gentle  rill,  compared  with  the 
roar  of  the  mighty  cataract. — Narrative,  p.  87. 

We  are  no  alarmists.  We  are  not  apt  to  see  a  tempest  brew- 
ing in  every  speck  of  vapor  that  discolors  the  atmosphere.  But 
we  do  believe  that  the  revolting  scenes,  which  it  has  been  our 
painful  duty  to  disclose  in  this  review,  will  be  acted  over  in 
many  other  places,  before  the  community  are  thoroughly  awake 
to  the  pernicious  tendency  of  the  principles  and  policy  of  men 
high  in  favor.  Meanwhile,  the  opposition  which  has  been  made 
to  this  '  work  of  God,'  as  it  has  been  profanely  called,  by  many 
Calvinists  on  the  spot,  and  the  alarm  that  has  been  expressed 
by  many  leading  Calvinists  at  a  distance,  particularly  in  the 
letters  of  Dr  Nettleton  and  Dr  Beecher,  augur  well.  They 
show  that  the  more  wary  and  discerning  of  that  party  are 
beginning  to  open  their  eyes.  Probably,  when  we  have 
laid  open  our  views  on  this  subject,  it  will  be  found,  that  we  do 
not  agree  in  many  respects  with  the  last  mentioned  gentleman ; 
but  there  is  one  admonition  contained  in  his  letter,  which  we 
can  adopt,  though  it  is  expressed  too  strongly,  and  betrays 
something  too  much  like  panic.  e  We  are  on  the  confines  of 
universal  misrule  and  moral  desolation,  and  no  time  is  to  be  lost 
in  forestalling  and  holding  public  sentiment  correctly,  before  the 
mass  shall  be  put  in  motion  by  fierce  winds,  before  which  noth- 
ing can  stand,  and  behind  which,  when  they  have  swept  over 
the  land,  nothing  will  remain.' 


Notices  of  decent  ^ufiitcations- 

13.  The  Christian  Guide,  Part  Second  ;  being  a  select  Commentary  on  the 
Four  Evangelists  ;  harmonized  and  chronologically  arranged,  in  a  new 
Translation.     By  the  Rev.  John  Samuel  Thompson.     New  York. 

This  is  the  production  of  a  Universalist ;  and,  though  several 
other  works,  by  the  same  hand,  upon  the  most  important  subjects 
of  theology,  are  advertised  upon  the  cover,  this  is  the  only  one 

VOL.  IV. — NO.  III.  34 


26G  Christian  Guide. 

which  has  fallen  under  our  observation.  It  is  a  pamphlet  of  less 
than  a  hundred  pages,  and  makes  part  of  a  series,  '  designed,'  as 
the  author  tells  us,  '  in  connexion  with  his  Systematical  Theol- 
ogy, to  supply  the  student,  and  the  intelligent  christian  inquirer, 
with  the  outlines  of  a  more  regular  and  systematical  course  of 
studies,  in  the  theory  of  the  christian  religion,  than  has  hitherto 
been  published.'  Wc  feel  no  disinclination  to  have  a  better 
acquaintance  with  this  author  ;  though  our  opinion  of  his  critical 
abilities,  or  his  qualifications  for  executing  a  new  translation  of 
the  scriptures,  and  expounding  the  subjects  of  '  Systematical 
Theology,'  we  must  acknowledge,  is  not  the  most  favorable. 
We  cordially  welcome,  however,  the  result  of  any  well-meant 
endeavour  to  give  a  more  faithful  version  of  the  scriptures  than 
the  one  commonly  received.  Every  attempt  at  a  new  translation 
has  at  least  one  beneficial  tendency.  It  by  degrees  removes 
from  the  public  mind  that  superstitious  reverence  for  the  mere 
language  of  scripture,  which  is  so  apt  to  conceal  its  meaning,  and 
which  perhaps  more  than  any  other  cause,  prevents  the  appli- 
cation of  correct  principles  to  its  interpretation. 

The  pamphlet  before  us  commences  the  translation  and  com- 
mentary, and  extends  so  far  as  to  include  the  'ordination  of  the 
twelve  disciples.'  It  is  divided  into  sections,  according  to  the 
subjects  treated,  without  any  reference  whatever  to  our  present 
division  into  gospels,  chapters,  and  verses.  Consequently,  as 
the  four  gospels  are  '  harmonized  and  chronologically  arranged/ 
the  matter  of  them  all  is  thrown  in  promiscuously,  so  that  we 
have  no  means  of  determining,  at  any  time,  which  gospel  we 
are  reading.  Instead,  therefore,  of  calling  this  work  '  The  Four 
Evangelists,  harmonized  and  chronologically  arranged,'  it  seems 
to  us  more  proper  to  consider  it  as  *  a  History  of  Jesus  Christ, 
compiled  from  the  Four  Evangelists,  and  chronologically  arranged 
in  a  new  Translation.' 

Whatever  may  be  the  advantages  attending  a  full  and  con- 
nected account  of  our  Saviour's  life  drawn  up  in  this  manner, 
there  are  in  our  view  strong  objections  against  blending  the 
substance  of  all  the  four  gospels  together  in  one  narrative,  with- 
out the  least  mark  by  which  they  can  be  severally  distinguished. 
The  matter  of  each  gospel  should  be  kept  distinct.  If  harmoni- 
zed and  chronologically  arranged,  let  all  four  be  printed  in 
parallel  columns,  that  we  may  know  which  we  are  reading, 
upon  whose  authority  the  account  rests,  and,  when  there  is  any 
diversity  in  the  relation,  choose  for  ourselves,  instead  of  being 
obliged,  in  every  instance,  to  adopt  the  author's  decision. 

We  are  not.  disposed,  however,  to  deal  very  severely  with  this 
work  :   for  we  arc   exceedingly  pleased   with   the  liberal    spirit. 


